10 fights to make in 2004/5

[bennie]

Here's a wish list of 10 fights that would ensure 2004 at least equals and likely surpasses 2003 in the eyes of boxing fans:

Lennox Lewis-Vitali Klitschko II: Their June bout demonstrated Klitschko has the heart and skills to stand up to the heavyweight division's best. Now it'll be up to Lewis - who has fought a mere 14 rounds in the past two years - to prove that at 38 he still hungers for greatness. Otherwise, move on and move out.

Floyd Mayweather-Kostya Tszyu: The latter's upcoming title fight against Sharmba Mitchell also is plenty intriguing, considering how close their initial bout was nearly three years ago. The flashy Mayweather wants to try his abundant talents at several divisions, and Tszyu would give him a stern test at junior welter.

Shane Mosley-Ricardo Mayorga: The smokin' Nicaraguan's star might have dimmed a bit after his close loss to Cory Spinks, and in fact, Mosley now will focus on a March 13 bout against Winky Wright. A more appealing matchup, though, would pit Mosley against Mayorga, who still carries tremendous power and charisma.

Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez: The hyperactive Filipino inherited the title of world's best featherweight after dismantling Marco Antonio Barrera. Pacquiao would get a chance to confirm that status, as well as add some belts, by taking on WBA and IBF champion Marquez.

Roy Jones-Mike Tyson: This one's a guilty pleasure. Sure, Tyson is shot, and he's now more accomplished as a plaintiff - he's suing King for $100 million - than as a fighter. But he still has some aura and punching power left, and Jones remains one of the sport's foremost practitioners.

Fernando Vargas-Bernard Hopkins: Vargas has not been the same since taking a beating from Felix Trinidad in December 2000. Still, he always gives fans their money's worth, and Hopkins, soon to be 39, has to slow down sometime.

Oscar De La Hoya-Felix Trinidad II: Tito finally has acknowledged he's considering a comeback, and the only way to remove the sour taste left by their first encounter would be to put on a show in a rematch.

Niguel Cotto-Kostya Tszyu: It won't happen, because Cotto's ascension up the ranks is being choreographed carefully by Top Rank. But tough opponents, not hype, are what make legends.

Joel Casamayor-Diego Corrales: The rematch of their rumble of October, won by Casamayor, is set for March 6. Expect flurries of punches.

Roy Jones-James ToneyII: From a marquee perspective, not as enticing as Jones- Tyson, but probably a better fight. The former super middleweight antagonists would meet as heavyweights.


By Jorge L. Ortiz

[REAL_DEAL]

Mine that are possible

Enzo Mac vs Johnny Nelson

Jamie Moore vs Spanish Cazlaghe (martinez)

Danny Williams vs Audley Harrison

David Haye vs Mark Hobson

Hatton vs Witter

Calzaghe vs Mundine and Green

Scott Harrison vs Marquez

Lear vs Gomez

[Southpaw Stylist]

Sergio Martinez is a lot more classy than Joe Calzaghe.

[REAL_DEAL]

Sergio Martinez is a lot more classy than Joe Calzaghe.

i know you are a huge fan of calzaghe

[lirva33]

Here's a wish list of 10 fights that would ensure 2004 at least equals and likely surpasses 2003 in the eyes of boxing fans:

Lennox Lewis-Vitali Klitschko II: Their June bout demonstrated Klitschko has the heart and skills to stand up to the heavyweight division's best. Now it'll be up to Lewis - who has fought a mere 14 rounds in the past two years - to prove that at 38 he still hungers for greatness. Otherwise, move on and move out.

Floyd Mayweather-Kostya Tszyu: The latter's upcoming title fight against Sharmba Mitchell also is plenty intriguing, considering how close their initial bout was nearly three years ago. The flashy Mayweather wants to try his abundant talents at several divisions, and Tszyu would give him a stern test at junior welter.

Shane Mosley-Ricardo Mayorga: The smokin' Nicaraguan's star might have dimmed a bit after his close loss to Cory Spinks, and in fact, Mosley now will focus on a March 13 bout against Winky Wright. A more appealing matchup, though, would pit Mosley against Mayorga, who still carries tremendous power and charisma.

Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez: The hyperactive Filipino inherited the title of world's best featherweight after dismantling Marco Antonio Barrera. Pacquiao would get a chance to confirm that status, as well as add some belts, by taking on WBA and IBF champion Marquez.

Roy Jones-Mike Tyson: This one's a guilty pleasure. Sure, Tyson is shot, and he's now more accomplished as a plaintiff - he's suing King for $100 million - than as a fighter. But he still has some aura and punching power left, and Jones remains one of the sport's foremost practitioners.

Fernando Vargas vs Bernard hopkins:Vargas has not been the same since taking a beating from Felix Trinidad in December 2000. Still, he always gives fans their money's worth, and Hopkins, soon to be 39, has to slow down sometime.

Oscar De La Hoya-Felix Trinidad II: Tito finally has acknowledged he's considering a comeback, and the only way to remove the sour taste left by their first encounter would be to put on a show in a rematch.

Niguel Cotto-Kostya Tszyu: It won't happen, because Cotto's ascension up the ranks is being choreographed carefully by Top Rank. But tough opponents, not hype, are what make legends.

Joel Casamayor-Diego Corrales: The rematch of their rumble of October, won by Casamayor, is set for March 6. Expect flurries of punches.

Roy Jones-James ToneyII: From a marquee perspective, not as enticing as Jones- Tyson, but probably a better fight. The former super middleweight antagonists would meet as heavyweights.


By Jorge L. Ortiz

Interesting, I was just reading through the forums (I should be studying) and came across this.


Lewis - Klitschko 2... No
Floyd Mayweather-Kostya Tszyu: No
Shane Mosley-Ricardo Mayorga: No
Roy Jones-Mike Tyson: No
Fernando Vargas vs Bernard hopkins: No
Oscar De La Hoya-Felix Trinidad II: No
Niguel Cotto-Kostya Tszyu: No
Roy Jones-James ToneyII: No

Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez: Yes
Joel Casamayor-Diego Corrales: Yes

The only two fights that happened were Pac-Marquez and Casamayor-Corrales.

[BubiScholz]

V.Klitschko vs Lewis II (come out or shut up, Lewsi!)
Krasniqi vs Brewster (for the WBO-title)
Valuev vs Ruiz (A Wrestling Match with this giant? impossible. The end of
the biggest shame of boxing)
Erdei vs Johnson (retirement for Johnson)
Michalzcewski vs Tarver (retirement for both, DM wins)
Wladi Klitschko vs Byrd II ("comeback" of the year)
V.KLitschko vs Sam (a hammerfest between the actual two best heavies)
Felix Sturm vs Hopkins (second win of Felix will be his 2nd robbery in
Vegas)
Gomez vs Toney (who is the best cruiser in heavy)
Sanders vs Ruiz (beat the last shit out of the Wrestler)

[Goz]

Here's a wish list of 10 fights that would ensure 2004 at least equals and likely surpasses 2003 in the eyes of boxing fans:

Lennox Lewis-Vitali Klitschko II: Their June bout demonstrated Klitschko has the heart and skills to stand up to the heavyweight division's best. Now it'll be up to Lewis - who has fought a mere 14 rounds in the past two years - to prove that at 38 he still hungers for greatness. Otherwise, move on and move out.

Floyd Mayweather-Kostya Tszyu: The latter's upcoming title fight against Sharmba Mitchell also is plenty intriguing, considering how close their initial bout was nearly three years ago. The flashy Mayweather wants to try his abundant talents at several divisions, and Tszyu would give him a stern test at junior welter.

Shane Mosley-Ricardo Mayorga: The smokin' Nicaraguan's star might have dimmed a bit after his close loss to Cory Spinks, and in fact, Mosley now will focus on a March 13 bout against Winky Wright. A more appealing matchup, though, would pit Mosley against Mayorga, who still carries tremendous power and charisma.

Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez: The hyperactive Filipino inherited the title of world's best featherweight after dismantling Marco Antonio Barrera. Pacquiao would get a chance to confirm that status, as well as add some belts, by taking on WBA and IBF champion Marquez.

Roy Jones-Mike Tyson: This one's a guilty pleasure. Sure, Tyson is shot, and he's now more accomplished as a plaintiff - he's suing King for $100 million - than as a fighter. But he still has some aura and punching power left, and Jones remains one of the sport's foremost practitioners.

Fernando Vargas vs Bernard hopkins:Vargas has not been the same since taking a beating from Felix Trinidad in December 2000. Still, he always gives fans their money's worth, and Hopkins, soon to be 39, has to slow down sometime.

Oscar De La Hoya-Felix Trinidad II: Tito finally has acknowledged he's considering a comeback, and the only way to remove the sour taste left by their first encounter would be to put on a show in a rematch.

Niguel Cotto-Kostya Tszyu: It won't happen, because Cotto's ascension up the ranks is being choreographed carefully by Top Rank. But tough opponents, not hype, are what make legends.

Joel Casamayor-Diego Corrales: The rematch of their rumble of October, won by Casamayor, is set for March 6. Expect flurries of punches.

Roy Jones-James ToneyII: From a marquee perspective, not as enticing as Jones- Tyson, but probably a better fight. The former super middleweight antagonists would meet as heavyweights.


By Jorge L. Ortiz

Interesting, I was just reading through the forums (I should be studying) and came across this.


Lewis - Klitschko 2... No
Floyd Mayweather-Kostya Tszyu: No
Shane Mosley-Ricardo Mayorga: No
Roy Jones-Mike Tyson: No
Fernando Vargas vs Bernard hopkins: No
Oscar De La Hoya-Felix Trinidad II: No
Niguel Cotto-Kostya Tszyu: No
Roy Jones-James ToneyII: No

Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez: Yes
Joel Casamayor-Diego Corrales: Yes

The only two fights that happened were Pac-Marquez and Casamayor-Corrales.

Although we did get some unexpected ones like Trinidad-Mayorga, MAB-Morales 3, Hopkins-DLH.

[Kilburn]

Well here are some fights I hope to see in 2005:

Kostya Tszyu v Oscar De La Hoya
Kostya Tszyu v Shane Mosley
Ricky Hatton v Miguel Cotto
Floyd Mayweather v Vivian Harris
Arturo Gatti v Junior Witter
Antonio Margarito v Ricardo Mayorga
Bernard Hopkins v Jermain Taylor
Scott Harrison v M.A Barrera
Corrie Sanders v James Toney
Vitali Klitschko v Hasim Rahman
Manny Paquiao v Injin Chi

[Kilburn]

I'm trying to think who'd I'd really like to see Tito in there with. I can only really come up with Shane Mosley at the moment. Both coming off good performances. Decent clash of styles.

[glittermonkey]

I'm trying to think who'd I'd really like to see Tito in there with. I can only really come up with Shane Mosley at the moment. Both coming off good performances. Decent clash of styles.

Christ, there's loads of decent possible fights for Tito, aside from the obvious Hopkins, Wright, or De La Hoya matches. What about Margarito? I think that could be a potential classic.

[Kilburn]

Christ, there's loads of decent possible fights for Tito, aside from the obvious Hopkins, Wright, or De La Hoya matches. What about Margarito? I think that could be a potential classic.

Fights with Hopkins, De La Hoya and Wright would all be big of course but genuinely exciting? I prefer to watch Tito in there with a fellow puncher myself. Margarito would be good but he doesn't quite pull the trigger quick enough to make it a classic war.

[lirva33]

Christ, there's loads of decent possible fights for Tito, aside from the obvious Hopkins, Wright, or De La Hoya matches. What about Margarito? I think that could be a potential classic.

Fights with Hopkins, De La Hoya and Wright would all be big of course but genuinely exciting? I prefer to watch Tito in there with a fellow puncher myself. Margarito would be good but he doesn't quite pull the trigger quick enough to make it a classic war.

Agreed, Tito Mosley would be good but Mosley would have to move up to 160. He has the beating of Tito IMO it would be real close, but Hopkins would beat him.

[josh fg]

Harrison vs Samm (after a warm up if he really means to win a world title)
Froch vs Dodson/Barny (then Cetus Parribus move on to europian)
Witter vs Hatton (shut the manc tosser up)
Hobson vs Haye (whoever wins they will both get a lot out of that one)
Calzageh and hatton vs someone who hits back.

[THEBUTCH]

From a British perspective :



Danny Williams - Audley Harrison
David Haye - Enzo Maccarinelli
Tommy Eastwood - Pinky Burton
Scott Dann - Gary Lockett
Matthew Thirlwall - Matthew Macklin
Wayne Alexander - Richard Williams
Chas Symmonds - Ross Minter
Lenny Daws - Young Mutley
Jason Cook - Graham Earl
Alex Arthur - Craig Docherty

[jamesmcdonnell]

Christ, there's loads of decent possible fights for Tito, aside from the obvious Hopkins, Wright, or De La Hoya matches. What about Margarito? I think that could be a potential classic.

Fights with Hopkins, De La Hoya and Wright would all be big of course but genuinely exciting? I prefer to watch Tito in there with a fellow puncher myself. Margarito would be good but he doesn't quite pull the trigger quick enough to make it a classic war.

Agreed, Tito Mosley would be good but Mosley would have to move up to 160. He has the beating of Tito IMO it would be real close, but Hopkins would beat him.

Mosley would get murdered by tito at 154 or 160, are you insane? Tito hits hard enough no nuke mayorga, who although really a welterweight is a tough nut. he battered Joppy and Cherifi, Mosley got bumraped by a small light middle in forrest.

Mosley has no chance at all if he fights tito, he's too easy to hit, and that's what Tito does best, hit.

[THEBUTCH]

Mosley's speed could offset Tito's many advantages.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Not enough to win the fight. Tito has a good chin, and he would just walk through Mosley. Mosley just doesn't have the power at light middle let alone middleweight. he looked good against winky in their last fight, but Winky isn't a puncher and was coasting for much of the fight I thought.

I also think Tito is going to beat Winky if they fight, Tito is something pretty special, the loss to Hopkins showed his limitations but look what B-hop did to Oscar. B-hop is a top 10 all time middleweight, and he respected Tito's power enough to keep him at arm's length.

I would equate Tito v Mosley with Hearns v Duran, Duran was a great fighter with a great chin, but his size and fighting style just played right into Hearns' hands, I think Mosley is too easy to hit, and Tito is a deadly accurate puncher.

Mosley would have to fight at his best for every second of every round to win.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Not enough to win the fight. Tito has a good chin, and he would just walk through Mosley. Mosley just doesn't have the power at light middle let alone middleweight. he looked good against winky in their last fight, but Winky isn't a puncher and was coasting for much of the fight I thought.

I also think Tito is going to beat Winky if they fight, Tito is something pretty special, the loss to Hopkins showed his limitations but look what B-hop did to Oscar. B-hop is a top 10 all time middleweight, and he respected Tito's power enough to keep him at arm's length.

I would equate Tito v Mosley with Hearns v Duran, Duran was a great fighter with a great chin, but his size and fighting style just played right into Hearns' hands, I think Mosley is too easy to hit, and Tito is a deadly accurate puncher.

Mosley would have to fight at his best for every second of every round to win.

[steve689]

I think the Mosley speed is overrated these days... fair enough he was lightening when he was KOing guys like Stone, Taylor, Diaz etc but since he lost to Forrest he has become a shell of his former self. There are no more flurries or blistering combinations anymore and the power doesn't seem to trouble the top guys. I think Tito would walk through him and stop him.

[Kilburn]

It's great that Tito is back and I've been a huge fan of his for years but he's not as unbeatable as some of you guys seem to think. And he certainly isn't another Thomas Hearns.

Tito v Mosley at 154 would be a quality match, and nothing like the Mayorga fight.

[jamesmcdonnell]

I think Tito compares rather well with Thomas Hearns, not the same level of boxing ability, but he's a technically excellent puncher and similarly has a shaky beard. Tito's career isn't over yet either and he did better against Hopkins than Thomas did against Hagler. Tito should have lost to DLH

I think Tito v Hearns would have been a 50-50, Thomas was so tight at the weight and was always going to be on shaky ground against a big hitter.

[THEBUTCH]

No way does Tito-Mosley equate to Hearns v Duran or will it should it happen.

You will be extraordinarily hard pushed to find a performance to surpass Hearns that night. For me it doesn't get any better.

Mosely's speed COULD be a factor, but not one I'd strongly hold on to (and yes if it's a middleweight, forget it).

[Kilburn]

I think Tito compares rather well with Thomas Hearns, not the same level of boxing ability, but he's a technically excellent puncher and similarly has a shaky beard. Tito's career isn't over yet either and he did better against Hopkins than Thomas did against Hagler. Tito should have lost to DLH

I think Tito v Hearns would have been a 50-50, Thomas was so tight at the weight and was always going to be on shaky ground against a big hitter.

Trinidads major attribute is his ability to throw power shots (whether his connect rate is high or low) repeatedly all night, not his actual punch power which I believe is markedly inferior to that which Hearns possessed. I couldn't have imagined David Reid and Fernando Vargas lasting so long with Hearns were it him clipping them with big punches.

Tito v Hearns a 50-50 fight sounds way off to me when you look at how Felix has been mastered before.

[THEBUTCH]

Have to agree Kilburn.

It could be said Tito last a lot longer against the best middleweight of the era in Hopkins, BUT i always maintain although Hearns only went three rounds with the then best middleweight of that era, Marvin Hagler, Tommy inflicted much more damage in the short time it lasted.

[jamesmcdonnell]

No way does Tito-Mosley equate to Hearns v Duran or will it should it happen.

You will be extraordinarily hard pushed to find a performance to surpass Hearns that night. For me it doesn't get any better.

Mosely's speed COULD be a factor, but not one I'd strongly hold on to (and yes if it's a middleweight, forget it).

I'm saying they equate well because I believe Mosley's style would play right into Tito's hands, much like Durans did against Hearns.

Apparently the reason that Hearns went all out against Hagler was that he was injured in training and was not in the best condition according to Manny. Hearns actually hurt Hagler in the first round, which is some achievement.

I agree that Hearns punched harder with single shots, but Tito's work is more economical. It's worth remembering that Hearns got blasted by Barkley, and Barkley was really little more than a club fighter with a lot of heart.

Tito is both overrated and underated, he is better than some suggest, but not one of the greatest of all time p4p, he is or was rather a very fornicating good welterweight champion, who tore through people like a knife through butter at his best. DLH showed his limitations, but there's no shame in that.